Doyle Lara A, Baker Kate C, Cox Lauren D
Division of Veterinary Medicine, Tulane National Primate Research Center, Covington, Louisiana 70433, USA.
Am J Primatol. 2008 Jun;70(6):542-50. doi: 10.1002/ajp.20526.
Pair housing of laboratory macaques is widely considered to lead to positive changes in well-being, yet the process of introduction is viewed as potentially stressful and risk-prone. Behavioral and physiological data were collected on eight adult male rhesus macaques before, during, and after the process of introduction, in order to measure the initial stress of introduction as well as long-term changes in well-being. Socially experienced subjects, all implanted with biotelemetry devices, were studied in five successive phases: baseline (singly housed), 1 day each of protected contact and full contact introduction, post-introduction (1-3 weeks after introduction), and settled pairs (> or =20 weeks after introduction). One hundred and seventy-six hours of behavioral data and 672 hr of heart rate data were analyzed. Fecal cortisol was also measured for the baseline, post-introduction, and settled pair phases. All introductions were successful and subjects showed no physiological or behavioral signs of stress, such as increased heart rate, abnormal behavior, or psychological indices of distress (depressive/anxiety-related behavior). Agonism was minimal throughout the introduction process and over the subsequent months; only one wound was incurred over the course of the study. Levels of abnormal behaviors, psychological indices of distress, locomotion, inactivity, and affiliation showed improvements within several weeks after introduction; these changes were still present 5-9 months later for the latter two categories. Heart rates during introduction fell significantly in the settled pair phase, and also varied predictably with time of day. Fecal cortisol levels were lower in settled pairs than in single housing. The fact that reductions in abnormal behavior did not persist over the long term may have been confounded by increasing duration of time spent caged. The results of this study may be of practical use for designing and monitoring social introductions and suggest that managers should not dismiss the feasibility of successful pairing of adult male rhesus macaques.
实验室猕猴成对饲养被广泛认为会给其健康带来积极变化，但引入过程被视为可能具有压力且容易出现风险。在引入过程之前、期间和之后，收集了八只成年雄性恒河猴的行为和生理数据，以测量引入时的初始压力以及健康状况的长期变化。对所有植入生物遥测设备且有社交经验的实验对象进行了五个连续阶段的研究：基线期（单独饲养）、受保护接触引入和完全接触引入各1天、引入后（引入后1 - 3周）以及稳定配对期（引入后≥20周）。分析了176小时的行为数据和672小时的心率数据。还测量了基线期、引入后和稳定配对期的粪便皮质醇水平。所有引入均成功，实验对象未表现出压力的生理或行为迹象，如心率加快、行为异常或痛苦的心理指标（抑郁/焦虑相关行为）。在整个引入过程及随后几个月中，争斗行为极少；在研究过程中仅出现一处伤口。异常行为水平、痛苦心理指标、活动、不活动和亲和行为在引入后的几周内有所改善；对于后两类行为，这些变化在5 - 9个月后仍然存在。引入期间的心率在稳定配对期显著下降，并且也随一天中的时间有可预测的变化。稳定配对期的粪便皮质醇水平低于单独饲养时。异常行为减少未长期持续这一事实可能因笼养时间增加而受到混淆。本研究结果可能对设计和监测社交引入具有实际用途，并表明管理人员不应忽视成年雄性恒河猴成功配对的可行性。
